Colombo, A state-owned Sri Lankan bank has agreed to help the country's cash-strapped cricket board with 600 million Sri Lankan rupees (5.07 million dollars) to pay the players their dues, according to the sports ministry. The ministry said in a statement that the Bank of Ceylon has agreed to release the funds after meetings with Sri Lanka's sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage. Top Sri Lankan cricketers haven't been paid since the end of last year's Cricket World Cup, News24 reported. This is basically due to the fact that the country's cricket board is burdened with a debt of 3.7 billion Sri Lankan rupees, which it took to finance the building of three cricket stadiums for the global tournament. Aluthgamage has ordered Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to pay the pending salaries up to the month of February by the end of the month. He also asked for the players to be paid on time in March. "Minister Aluthgamage also in writing, had instructed the officials of SLC not to overlook contract payments in the future and Sri Lanka Cricket should take the full responsibility to ensure that the player payments are made on time in the future," the statement said. The sports ...
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Colombo, Eighteen Indian fishermen whose boats were caught in rough sea were rescued by the Sri Lankan navy, an official said. The navy rescued 12 fishermen off Delft island while six others were rescued off Analative island. They were later handed over to the police after being provided food and medicine, navy spokesman Kosala Warnakulasuriya told Xinhua. Warnakulasuriya said that this was "an instance where Indian fishermen were saved by Sri Lanka's navy despite allegations by Indian media accusing Sri Lanka of unleashing violence on Indian fishermen". Representatives from foreign ministries, coast guards and navies from India and Sri Lanka are scheduled to meet in the island nation Jan 13-14 to discuss issues related to fishing in shared waters, the report said. ...
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Colombo, Aiming to spur economic growth, the Sri Lankan central bank has relaxed regulations of foreign investments in corporate debentures of local firms and foreign borrowings by local firms, it said in a statement Tuesday. In the case of corporate debentures raised by local companies, the ceiling imposed on the interest rate of the debentures has been removed as have the requirement for the maintenance of a sinking fund by the issuing company, according to the statement. These new procedures are expected to support alternative financing needs at a competitive cost. In addition, the minimum tenure of the debentures has been reduced from the current level of five years to two years, reported Xinhua. In the case of foreign borrowing, the current limit on borrowing applicable to a local firm has been increased from USD 20 million to USD 50 million and local firms have been permitted to raise foreign loans against corporate or bank guarantees. "Other borrowing arrangements of a short-term nature and those by newly incorporated firms would also be considered for approval by the central bank, based on the merits of each case," said the statement. Sri Lanka's economy is ...
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